Third Entry
by Standardshigh
Summary: The third entry in the journal of D.I Armstrong


This is the third story I have written for the Fanfiction website about the LOM/A2A franchise.

In all honesty, I would like to mention now that this will probably be the LAST of these stories, and this because of two main reasons:

(a) I feel that I'm beginning to run out of interesting ideas for these stories.

(b) I have already written three stories like this, and I feel that if I continued to write stories like this in this particular STYLE & with this particular CHARACTER then I'm worried that it might get a bit repetitive after a while.

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><p>Title: Third Entry.<p>

Genre: Post Ashes to Ashes series 3.

Cast: D.I. Graham Armstrong (the New Arrival).

Author: Standardshigh.

Number of Words: About 1122.

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><p>(CLICK)<p>

"_Saturday 17__th__ December. Day 12. The time is nearly 9:30 pm. I've only just got back from the office._

_What can I say? It HAD started out has a relatively normal day. Me and another officer called Terry were out following a lead we had about the murder of a young black man called Leon (which I might have mentioned earlier on one of these tapes) when I got a call through my radio. It was the Guv, asking us to get back to the station immediately._

_I politely pointed out that me and Terry were out on assignment, but DCI Hunt was most…..INSISTANT, shall we say. I looked at Terry, and knowing we'd get a bollocking if we didn't, we made our way back to the station._

_Once there the Guv filled us in on the details. At about 1:20 this afternoon a car bomb had exploded in Hans Crescent, outside the Harrods department store. It was inside a blue car, and although information was still coming in, it was apparent that there were already casualties. LOTS of Casualties._

_It was only when I heard him telling us that it all came suddenly flying back to me-I've been so busy with this whole 'other world' thing that I completely forgot about it. Hearing those words being said to me down that receiver sent a shiver down my spine. _

_Fearing that there could be another bombing at moment, the Guv ordered that we went into-what could best be described has-'red alert' mode. No one goes home, no breaks, NOTHING! Not until we know for certain what was exactly is going on._

_Has the afternoon passed on, we slowly got more information coming through-the bomb was located within a blue Austin 1300, and a message had been sent just 45 minutes before hand. _

_But by far the worse was the casualty list-dozens had been injured, and at least 6 confirmed killed of which 3 were police officers. This last piece of information sent the Guv into a fit of rage, which I had only seen a few times since the time I've been here. He even threw his coffee cup at the door to his office so hard that it's now got a big crack in it._

_By the time it got to about 9 we were coming to the conclusion that the worst of it was over for now, although the Guv thought it best to maintain vigilance for just a while longer, and seeing how tired we were getting he told us to go home & get our heads down for a couple of hours. He'd call us if there was anymore more news. _

_The strange thing is, I can actually remember this day from when I was young, although my family weren't actually in London at the time It was my grandparent's wedding anniversary, and my family had travelled all the way to Southend for the day to be with them._

_It was such a great day. I use to love visiting my grandparent's house. He lived in a huge, beautiful bungalow overlooking the coastline. The whole family was there._

_I can remember hearing about the bomb blast on the car radio on the way home. I can still remember looking out of the back window into the cold, black sky, seeing the lights of all the other cars on the motorway and hearing the voice of the news broadcasting. I'll never forget that day. _

_That's the strange thing really-has a kid you SEE these things on TV, you HEAR about them & READ about them, and yet you never really pick up on just how serious it is. You just accept it has it is._

_But has an adult, you become fully aware of just how HORRENDOUS events like these can really be, and just how devastating it can be for those involved. There must be a moral there somewhere._

_(SIGH)_

_What else can I tell you?_

_I am definitely getting more familiar with the team now, I'm happy to say. Although I had my reservations at first, I think they're actually nice guys now. I am learning a lot of new things about the way they prefer to do things._

_One good thing about this department is that there's a good sense of SOLIDALITY here, and they actually have a real good sense of teamwork and cooperation. Even previous officers who no longer work here are still talked about fondly-I've noticed that there's a picture of one former officer called Viv James hanging up in Reception, although I still haven't got round to asking anyone about him though._

_The Guv seems okay an all, although recently he has developed this slightly annoying habit of calling me 'Buzby' sometimes. You know? Like the cartoon bird in the BT adverts? (1) Although I not entirely sure why. I think it's because I kicked up such a fuss over my missing iPhone when I first arrived here that he's never really forgotten it. To be honest, it doesn't particularly bother me that much, although I do wish he wouldn't though._

_I tell one think though-the Guv's actually quite a smart guy when you look at him. He obviously doesn't know exactly what an iPhone actually IS, but did work that it's a phone of some kind. I'm quite impressed with that. _

"_This place is beginning to feel more like a home now, even though I still hope its only going to be a temporary one. I have also taken the liberty of buying a Christmas tree and some decorations to brighten the place up a bit!_

_I've been thinking a lot about my old life recently. I sometimes lie awake a night wondering what's happening out there, in the real world, all the different things that be occurring whilst I'm stuck in this place. _

_But most of all, I miss my family. I really do miss them so much. I really do wish I could be with them again. Soon._

"_There is some good news however-I met the new owners of that restaurant downstairs that's been lying empty for the last couple of weeks. A young Indian man called Jatinda and his wife Rushinda. They seem like quite a nice couple, actually. They also got two little girls about 4 and 6 years old, which are quite sweet!"_

"_He's been in contact with the previous owner (who now lives in Italy), and has agreed to keep on the rent of the flat, which is a bit of a relief. I'm quite looking forward to it, actually-I quite like Indian food! _

_This is D.I Graham Armstrong, Fenchurch East". _

(CLICK).

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><p><em><span>NOTES<span>:_

_(1) Buzby was the name of a yellow (later orange) talking cartoon bird (voiced by Bernard Cribbins). He was first created in 1976 by The Post Office Telecommunications, which later became British Telecom (or BT). He appeared in a series of television adverts for BT throughout most of the 70s & 80s, with the catchphrase "Make someone happy with a phone call"._

_To be honest, I was slightly worried about the actual nature of this story. At the end of the day, this was an ACTUAL, and (more importantly) REAL PEOPLE were injured and even KILLED in it, so I did try to show just a bit sensitivity about how I wrote it._


End file.
